Québec will be the Guest of Honour at the 2026 edition of the Gothenburg Book Fair in Sweden. A book fair, literary festival and professional congress, the Gothenburg Book Fair is one of the most important cultural events in Northern Europe, welcoming 80,000 visitors and featuring a rights centre with participants from more than 40 countries.

Photo du stand Québec

A UNESCO City of Literature, Gothenburg is a leading player in the Scandinavian literary scene. The Fair will take place from 24 - 27 September 2026. A delegation of Québec authors will be present, taking part in the Fair’s official programme and in activities at the Québec Pavilion. Québec will also have a presence at the 2025 and 2027 editions of the Fair.

Québec Édition, the international committee of the Association nationale des éditeurs de livres (ANEL), has been mandated by the Government of Québec to coordinate Québec’s collective presence. The 2026 edition of the Gothenburg Book Fair will mark the culmination of an ambitious business development programme led by Québec Édition and several Québec publishers, in close collaboration with the Québec Government Office in London.

Québec literature

At the 2026 Gothenburg Book Fair, Québec is Guest of Honour. Its vibrant and diverse French-language literature, rooted in North America, will be showcased through leading authors and new voices. Reflecting its history and its people, Québec is made up of many paths and aspirations. Modern Québécois literature proudly asserts its Francophone character, embraces migration, and makes space for the voices of First nations.

Celebrated across the Francophonie, translated into many languages, and recipients of major awards, authors from Québec embody the universality of their culture. Storytellers, poets, and playwrights reinvent and liberate the French language. Novelists explore the border between the intimate and the social, as well as the vast landscapes that surround them. Essayists draw on the Québécois experience to enrich feminist thought and shed light on questions of populism. Children’s and young adult writers are internationally recognised for their boldness, humour, and sensitivity to contemporary issues.

The literary programme celebrating Québec will also reflect a Nordic society that, like Sweden, values conviviality, social justice, and cultural diversity.

2026 Programme

The programme for the 2026 edition of the Gothenburg Book Fair will be announced in spring 2026.

2025 Programme

In preparation for this major Guest of Honour feature, Québec will host activities at the 2025 edition of the Gothenburg Book Fair.

Roundtable on Québec

Wednesday 24 September 2025

At the Fair’s conference on cultural policy, representatives of the Government of Québec and Québec Édition will present Québec’s legal and policy frameworks to support literature and culture, both within the province and internationally.

Professional activity – by invitation only

Michel Jean in conversation with Ann-Helén Laestadius

Indigenous Peoples in Sweden and Canada: Then and Now

Friday 26 September 2025, Bokmässan (Hall R2), 15:00 – 15:45

In Skam, the final part of Ann-Helén Laestadius’s Sámi trilogy, the main character, Marina, overcomes shame linked to her Sámi heritage while influenced by deeply Christian family members.

In Kukum, Innu author Michel Jean tells, through the eyes of his great-grandmother Almanda Siméon, the story of how the Innus’ traditional way of life gradually disappeared.

Writer and translator Johan Sandberg McGuinne will lead a discussion on the experiences of Indigenous Peoples in Sweden and Canada, and the pain they continue to endure today.

This seminar offers a preview of Québec’s Guest of Honour role at the 2026 Fair, with the support of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Embassy of Canada.

Public activity

Michel Jean in conversation with Elisabeth Gräte

Saturday 27 September 2025, Bokmässan (The Secret Garden Stage), 16:00 – 16:20

Innu novelist Michel Jean discusses the process of translating Kukum with his editor, Elisabeth Grate, and translator, Annalena Sund Aillet.

Public activity

Québec Reception

Saturday 27 September 2025, Bokmässe-Baren, 18:00 – 20:00

Come and meet the Québec partners involved in the 2026 Guest of Honour programme.

Professional activity

For more information, please contact Andy Bailey, Cultural Attaché at the Québec Government Office in London.

Literary works translated into Swedish

A list of Québec books translated into Swedish will be available shortly.

Québec-Sweden literary activity to date

Available soon.

Partners

The Government of Québec, through the Ministry of Culture and Communications, the Ministry of International Relations and La Francophonie, the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Québec Government Office in London, supports the participation of Québec authors, publishers and representatives at the 2026 edition of the Gothenburg Book Fair.

Last update: October 30, 2025